A Song of Smoke and Powder
by Fritzelbitz
Summary: When Karl Franz and the finest soldiers of the Empire are transported to the land of Westeros, the balance of power is forever changed. Emperor Karl Franz struggles to adapt, while Jon Snow is given an opportunity, using his newfound ally.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Karl Franz dismounted his griffin, Deathclaw. He approached his men, who were all cheering their emperor. It had been a tough fight, but for the third time, the Empire had prevailed at Black Fire Pass. The tide of Greenskins had been halted, with a decisive Imperial victory. Karl Franz surveyed the battlefield. His stomach turned at the amount of dead and dying Imperials, but he couldn't help but smile at the amount of fallen Orcs and Goblins. The Greenskins had attempted a direct frontal assault, and had been cut to pieces by Imperial artillery and handgunners. They reached the line in several places however, and dealt out heavy losses. The battle lasted 6 hours, and the Empire was seriously starting to look like losing, until the Dwarfs arrived. The sight of short, bearded warriors charging at the Greenskins, screaming bloody murder, rallied the Imperials.

With the help of the Dwarfs, the banner of Sigmar was planted on the hill overlooking the Imperial lines. Karl Franz approached Kurt Helborg and Ludwig Schwarzhelm. "Good work gentlemen," said the emperor.

"Your Majesty, I am sorry, but…" Kurt couldn't finish his sentence. "Marius Leitdorf is dead," finished Ludwig. Karl Franz cursed. He never trusted the "mad count", but he was sorry to hear of his death. "The damn fool tried to duel with Grimgor," said Kurt. Karl Franz fought back a smile. Only Marius would be insane enough to pick a fight with Grimgor Ironhide, who was the most feared of all Orc Warbosses.

"His unit fought to the last man," said Ludwig.

"It is truly a death worthy of him," Karl Franz replied, "a death worthy of a man of his reputation." Ludwig and Kurt nodded in unison. "Well, I suppose it is time for one of those speeches the men love so much", the Emperor said, sighing.

Karl Franz got back on Deathclaw. He flew upward, and hovered above his men. "Today we are victorious! The green tide has been halted! Sigmar is with us this day! But do not allow hubris to take over. There are still many battles to be fought! Chaos rises in the north! But you are soldiers of the Empire, and I have no doubt in your courage or ability! Tonight, we rest. Tomorrow, we march north!"

His men cheered. Karl Franz surveyed them. They were tired, but proud. He saw determination in their faces, along with relief. "There are no better soldiers in the Old World," he thought. These men would follow him to the Realm of Chaos, if that is what it took to achieve victory. The soldiers started to disperse. Officers shouted orders and, like clockwork, they formed ranks. The looting detachments marched forward to search the fallen Greenskins for valuables, while others began gathering the wounded and burying the dead.

While this was done, Karl Franz again surveyed the battlefield. It was hard to imagine that such carnage could have occurred in such a short time. He walked back to his tent. He knew he needed rest, but was so exhilarated at the victory that he couldn't sleep. He instead decided to deal with sending word of his victory back to his court. He drafted a dispatch, and had it sent by courier to Altdorf. Outside, the sound of his soldiers singing drowned out the cries of the wounded.

The cook brought him a bowl of soup, which the Emperor thanked him for. As Karl Franz ate, he studied the reports of the stirring of Chaos. Things looked a lot worse then he thought. Large Chaos war bands had been sighted along the northern border of Kislev. His armies in the north were badly undermanned; he needed to get there, and fast. A sudden rush of fatigue suddenly hit the Emperor, who retired to his cot. He was asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow.

Far away, a man in a suit of Dark Armor surveyed the Imperial Camp. The Imperial pickets had not caused him any trouble: they died just as easily as Kislevites. He began to mutter an unholy incantation. It was in some horrible, forgotten tongue that would cause one's hair to stand on end. As he spoke, the air around him begin to coarse with power. A very loud humming began as well, slowly gaining in pitch. As the Chaos sorcerer continued his ritual, he began to age. His skin began to grow wrinkled, his hair started turning grey, and then falling off. Next, his skin began to crumble to dust, and fall off him. Soon, all that remained was a skeleton, glowing with power. The spell that he cast shattered reality itself, and the Imperial camp, tents and all, vanished. The skeleton then crumbled to dust entirely. But the greatest threat ever to the reign of Chaos had been sent to another world…


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A Different Land

The first thing that alerted Karl Franz to something being wrong was the cold. It was never cold this far south during the summer. He sprang to his feet, and grabbed Ghal Maraz.

"Ludwig!" yelled the emperor. He dashed outside his tent, cursing his sore body; he had forgotten to take off his armor the previous night. At first, the Emperor thought he must be dreaming; this couldn't be real, could it? His army was there, his tents were there, but "there" wasn't there. Instead of the rugged and recognizable landscape of Black Fire Pass, his army was in some sort of Tundra. Snow was everywhere, along with many trees. All around him, his soldiers looked around in confusion. Ludwig ran to him from withing the command tent. He froze when he saw the outside, and exchanged a panicked look with the emperor.

"Ludwig," said Karl Franz, with forced calm. "I think today is going to be very interesting".

Karl Franz exited his tent and walked briskly to the stables. His men were running around in a panic. He barked orders for calm. Some of his men listened, but not enough. He grabbed the shoulder of a passing soldier, and demanded to know what had happened.

"I have no idea Your Highness, one minute I'm on guard duty, the next I'm on the ground, as if I had been sleeping."

"I hope for your sake you weren't!"

The soldier professed his innocence, and claimed that every other guard on duty he had talked to told the same story. Karl Franz considered running to the stables, but decided against to avoid panicking his men further. He hurriedly mounted Deathclaw and soared over his encampment shouting all the while for his men to remain calm. It took a while, but eventually his troops formed ranks and stood, awaiting orders. As this happened, the emperor looked up, and gasped. Ahead was what appeared to be a frozen wave of gargantuan size. After several seconds, he saw a door at the base, and realized it was a wall. But it was a wall that dwarfed every fortification he had ever seen. He landed Deathclaw, dismounted, and approached his tent again. Kurt was awake now, and talking with Ludwig with a very concerned look.

"Gentlemen, we appear to be in deep shit," said Karl Franz, "nothing here is familiar, there is some sort of wall ahead, with a gate. Options?"

"We could enter the gate, though it is possibly a trap," Kurt said,

"I think it's out best option, considering we have no winter supplies or clothes," said Ludwig.

"I am of a mind with Ludwig," said the emperor, "We have no idea where we are, and our options are limited, we go through that gate."

Kurt and Ludwig nodded to him, and he left the tent. As he walked toward Deathclaw, Karl Franz saw his men watching him expectantly. They didn't show it, but he knew they were terrified. He also knew that these brave soldiers would follow him anywhere, in spite of their fear. As he climbed onto the back of Deathclaw, he saw the that the griffon was nervous as well. He scratched Deathclaw a little on the neck. Deathclaw rubbed his head against the Emperor's arm affectionately. The Emperor whistled, and Deathclaw took off, flying around his men. It was a splendid sight. 17,000 men in uniform and armor, banners waving in the wind, weapons glistening in the morning sun. The Emperor sighed, and began to call to his men.

"Men of the Empire! I know you are all curious as to our situation! I wish I could tell you where we were, and that everything will be fine! But, I simply cannot say this honestly! That gate ahead of us is our only option! I intend to go through that gate, and hopefully find some sort of shelter for us! I will not tell you to be fearless! I will tell you to overcome your fear, and triumph in face of it!"

The noise of the cheering was deafening. The Emperor again landed Deathclaw, this time outside the stables. He dismounted, and Deathclaw was tended to by one of his men. He approached his horse, Helmut, and mounted him. He started towards the wall, a company of the Reiksguard escorting him. As they neared it, the Emperor saw a a group of riders approaching them. He gave the order to halt. He could now make out the riders ahead of him. There were four of them, one bearing a white banner. The oldest looked at about 40, the youngest couldn't have been more than 12 or 13. One of them galloped up to him, he looked around 20, with long black hair. The man began to speak,

"I certainly hope your intentions are not hostile, as ours certainly aren't. Who are you?

"I am Emperor Karl Franz, and our intentions are to find out where the blazes we are."

"Emperor? I know of no Emperors beyond the wall. I am Jon Snow, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Karl Franz frowned. He had never heard of the "Night's Watch". "I apologize Jo- erm, Lord Commander, but I am not familiar with the "Night's Watch"".

The man stared at the Emperor, looking completely confused. "Your Grace, I am not sure who you are either, you and your men have the appearance of Southerners, but there are no Emperors in Westeros either. With all due respect, where did you come from?"

"I rule the Empire, on a continent known as the Old World. I assume we are currently in Westeros. Unfortunately I do not know where Westeros is.

"Westeros is, well it's, that is going to take a long time to explain. How many men are with you, if I may ask?"

"17,000, give or take."

Several of Snow's men exchanged nervous glances, including the boy. Karl Franz suddenly realized how this must look. From their perspective, he appeared to be leading an army of conquest. He didn't blame them for looking nervous. Franz himself was in full battle armor, with Ghal Maraz slung over his back.

"I apologize for our appearance. We just finished fighting a great battle. We have no hostile intent, and wish you no harm. But I truly must ask where we are. My men are already very worried. I need to see to their safety."

The Lord Commander looked at Franz for a few seconds before speaking, in a significantly more friendly tone, "I thank you for your politeness, and am willing to let you and your men in. I am not exactly in a position to refuse anyone past the wall. You may bivouac your troops along the southern portion of the wall. I would like to ask you something as well, once we get inside."

Karl nodded, and turned his horse around. It was time to tell his men what they were going to do.

—

Olly saw the Emperor gallop away on his armored horse. He had to admit, the man looked impressive. These could not be wildlings, they were not the barbarians who butchered his family. His stomach turned at the thought. No, he could think about that now. He mentally cursed himself. Reminding himself of the massacre would give him another night of terrible dreams. NO. He stopped the thought completely, before his eyes could fill with tears again. He saw Jon turn his horse and gallop back toward Castle Black. He followed behind him and the rangers who had gone with him. As they entered the tunnel, Olly heard a horn blow behind them. It wasn't a horn of the Night's Watch, it sounded much higher pitched.

When they were in the Castle, he saw almost the entire garrison looking out the observation ports. Jon went to one, and Olly followed. When he looked outside, he saw a column of riders approaching. They were in fine armor, with musicians at the front playing bombastic martial music on trumpets and drums. The gate was opened again, and in they came. The column, trotting 6 abreast looked absolutely splendid in their spotless, polished armor. Their clothes appeared to be fine as well, but rather odd looking. Olly squinted; at their belts were strange looking sticks with metal attached. Olly assumed they were some sort of musical instrument. After them came more riders, these ones in full plate, wearing hounskull bascinets and wielding long lances. Behind them, were riders dressed similarly to the first ones, but they had even longer sticks with metal attached. These were hung from the saddle, and had multiple holes on the front. Behind them still, came column after column of infantry. The first few columns carried massive two handed swords, and had strange looking floppy hats. After these came infantry with more strange metal encrusted sticks, this time with them over their left shoulder. Last came infantry with halberds, spears, and swords.

After what felt like hours, the last column came through. Olly looked around. Where was the Emperor? Then he heard what sounded like an eagle. Olly looked up, and gasped. Above him was the Emperor, riding on what appeared to have the front end of a bird of prey, and the back end of some sort of large cat. He had never seen anything like it before. The creature circled several times before landing, and the Emperor dismounted. A band began to play an upbeat tune as the Emperor approached Jon.

—

Jon Snow's head was spinning. Two days ago he had returned from Hardhome convinced of the imminent destruction of the world as he knew it. Even with the wildlings on his side, there couldn't be a way to stop the army of the dead. But now, if this Emperor was willing to assist. 17,000? He couldn't imagine that many men defending the wall. Every Castle could be manned at full strength. The Emperor approached him, and Jon shook his hand. The two went to the Lord Commander's office along with Olly. Jon sat down at his desk, and offered a seat to the Emperor, who took it. Jon did his best to explain the situation to Karl Franz, and was very surprised when he believed him. Franz mentioned something about "Chaos" and "Vampires". Jon chose not to ask him about this.

After several hours of conversation, the two came to an agreement. The Emperor and his army could stay in The Gift as long as they needed, and would forage there, beyond the wall, as well as buy local food to supply themselves. In exchange for this, the Imperial Army would aid in garrisoning the wall. When they finished, Jon and Franz shook hands again. As Jon Walked outside with the Emperor, he noticed Ser Alliser was missing.

As Karl Franz walked away, he heard footsteps rapidly approaching from behind him. He turned and was face to face with Ser Alliser, who was wielding a dagger, Jon leapt aside, rolling away as Alliser swung his dagger down toward him. He came at Jon again, and Jon saw he would not be able to dodge this one. Just as Alliser was about to stab him, a deafening sound tore through the night. A hole suddenly appeared in the chest of Alliser, who looked down in shock, then collapsed. Behind him was an Imperial soldier, holding a strange wooden and metal device, with smoke billowing out of the tip and back. "I take it you haven't seen a firearm before, Lord Commander."


End file.
